MIDDLESEX COUNTY

Rabbi rescues Sefer Torah from burning New Brunswick synagogue

Suzanne Russell
@SRussellMyCJ
  • The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. and had reached three alarms in about a half-hour
  • The congregation building dates to the early 1920s.
  • The building is on the National Register of Historic Places

NEW BRUNSWICK - As a fire raged through a historic city synagogue Friday afternoon, the congregation's longtime rabbi raced into the burning building to rescue the Sefer Torah.

"I saw him watching the firemen go in. I knew inside they had the Sefer Torah," said Donny Zinkin, whose condominium is doors away from Congregation Poile Zedek, an Orthodox Ashkenazic synagogue at 145 Neilson St.

Zinkin said he asked Rabbi Abraham Mykoff if he needed help because he knew the Sefer Torah, a handwritten holy scroll, would be the one thing he would be most concerned about. He said Mykoff then ran into the synagogue and grabbed the Sefer Torah.

"When he came out, he gave it to me," said Zinkin, who has lived near the synagogue for 15 years and has known the rabbi, a Highland Park resident, for many years and called him "a very good guy."

Zinkin said he asked the rabbi if he should go in to get the other torahs, but Mykoff told him that as he grabbed the Sefer Torah the ceiling collapsed behind him.

"It was pretty crazy. It's a pretty bad fire," Zinkin said about the fire that broke out Friday afternoon with flames on the third floor.  Firefighters battled to contain it while working to saveneighboring townhouses.

Zinkin said he brought the Sefer Torah into his condo, but about 20 minutes later, police told him he had to evacuate  for fear the fire would spread.

Zinkin said he brought the Sefer Torah to his parents' home in Highland Park and then took it to Congregation Ohr Torah in Highland Park, his family's synagogue, for safe keeping.

"It's a gorgeous old synagogue," said Zinkin, about the New Brunswick building, which he  remembers being inside when he was a child.

“The synagogue was built probably around 1924," New Brunswick Councilman John Anderson said. "It’s really been here all this time doing a lot of work for the community. It’s devastating for the city of New Brunswick and the community."

New Brunswick Fire Director Robert Rawls said, “A caretaker was in the building when the fire broke out. His story was that he was reading the newspaper. He heard a couple of bangs and saw fire on the first floor. He self-evacuated. At that point, firefighters started ventilating the rear of the building. At that point, heavy flames were exposed to the roof of the building. The roof collapsed, so what we’re working with is pretty much a shell, but they did a great job stopping the explosions and keeping the fire off the other buildings.

“When they arrived, they encountered heavy smoke on the second and third floor. There were no flames at that time. We didn’t see flames until we opened the second- and third-floor windows. Then heavy flames blew out of the second and third floor and through the roof.”

Around 4:19 p.m., city firefighters received a call reporting a smoke condition within the synagogue. Firefighters responded within minutes to discover smoke in various spots in the building and shortly thereafter, flames broke through the roof, according to a news release from the  mayor's office.

. No injuries were reported. Nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

A second alarm was transmitted as flames went through the roof,  and all firefighters were ordered to evacuate.

Initial reports expressed concern about occupants in the basement. The fire spread into the basement and there was concern about a side of the building collapsing, according to a police monitoring service.

A third alarm was transmitted around 5 p.m.

The synagogue site near Route 18 was purchased in 1905. In 1923, the cornerstone ceremony was held, and a year later, the building was completed and began operating, according to the synagogue's website. At that time, the congregation changed the name to Poile Zedek, which means "doers of righteousness."

The synagogue offers daily morning, Shabbat and holiday services, and is committed to Torah education and community service, according to the website.

In 1995, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mykoff has served as synagogue's rabbi for more than 20 years, according to the website.

The website indicates membership of about 100 families, in recent years new families and an influx of Russian immigrants have began to revitalize the congregation. Students from nearby Rutgers University often attend services and the congregation's archives are housed in the special-collections sections of Rutgers Alexander Library.

A video of the fire scene showed firefighters pouring water on the townhouses near the synagogue.

The New Brunswick Fire Department received assistance from Community (Franklin Township), East Brunswick Independent, East Franklin, Edison, Highland Park, North Brunswick Milltown and Sayreville fire departments The New Brunswick Police Department, the Middlesex County Fire Marshal’s Office and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital EMS also assisted, according to the mayor's office.

Contributing: Staff Writer Susan Loyer

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com